UAE and US Officials Discuss Crypto and AI Collaboration, Highlighting Global Tech Diplomacy

Trump's crypto czar meets UAE's national security adviser on crypto, AI

Senior UAE official Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said he spoke with White House crypto and AI czar David Sacks about the increased use of crypto. White House crypto and AI czar David Sacks was among a number of Trump administration officials who recently met with United Arab Emirates officials to discuss emerging technologies and UAE's potential plans to increase its investment in the United States. Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Gulf nation's national security adviser and brother of the country's president, said in a March 20 X post that he had spoken with Sacks about AI's impact, "the expanding role of digital currencies" along with "the investment opportunities emerging at their convergence." US President Donald Trump hosted Tahnoon for dinner at the White House on March 18 and posted on his Truth Social platform a day later that he and senior US officials discussed with Tahnoon "ways for our countries to increase our partnership for the advancing of our economic and technological futures." The exact details of Tahnoon's multiple discussions were not made public, but Bloomberg reported on March 19 that people familiar with his meeting with Trump said he planned to talk about technology, energy and increasing the UAE's investment in the US. Multiple posts on Tahnoon's X account show him meeting Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to discuss trade and investment between the two nations, along with chatting with White House cost-cutting czar Elon Musk via video call to discuss government systems. He also spoke about AI with tech executives, including Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Bloomberg reported that Tahnoon planned to discuss how the UAE could gain easier access to computer chips after the Biden administration restricted exports on them in 2023 and to note the country's plans to build tech infrastructure on US soil. Related: Eric Trump joins Metaplanet's strategic board of advisers Tahnoon is the chair of the investment firm MGX, which reportedly plans to throw $7 billion into a $500 billion private-led project called "Stargate" to build AI data centers across the US, which Trump announced just days after returning to the White House. MGX, which invested $2 billion into Binance earlier this month, is a small part of a $1.5 trillion empire that Tahnoon controls, which includes two of the UAE's sovereign wealth funds, the country's largest bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and the AI development firm G42.

Top Officials from the US, UAE Open Dialogue Around Exploring Crypto, AI

This week, the US hosted UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss technological cooperation, energy, and investment opportunities. During his visit, he met with key officials from President Trump's administration, including White House crypto czar David Sacks, where cryptocurrency regulation was a key topic. While the US is still shaping its crypto laws, the UAE is among the first nations to have established regulations. Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and David Sacks have initiated discussions on expanding digital currencies, particularly within international financial systems. They also explored upcoming investment opportunities at the intersection of crypto and artificial intelligence (AI). "As technological advancements accelerate, fostering collaboration and adopting forward-looking strategies remain essential pillars for driving sustainable growth and achieving long-term impact," a post by Sheikh Tahnoon Zayed Al Nahyan said on X. Sheikh Tahnoon Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi's royal family, leads MGX, a sovereign wealth fund focused on advanced tech investments. Earlier this month, MGX acquired a minority stake in Binance for $2 billion (roughly Rs. 17,403 crore). As per reports, MGX has committed $7 billion (roughly Rs. 60,209 crore) to President Trump's ambitious Stargate project, that aims to build high power AI data centres across the US. OpenAI, Nvidia, Microsoft, and SoftBank are other participants in the $500 billion (roughly Rs. 43,00,668 crore) project. Satya Nadella (Microsoft), Larry Fink (BlackRock), and Jensen Huang (Nvidia) also met with MGX chief Sheikh Tahnoon Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss the US's AI initiatives. Al Nahyan later shared glimpses of the meeting on X. Earlier this week, President Trump hosted Zayed Al Nahyan at the White House alongside senior federal officials. The 47th US President later shared the update on Truth Social. "Discussions included ways for our countries to increase our partnership for the advancing of our economic and technological futures," President Trump posted. At present, US SEC's Crypto Task Force is designing a regulatory framework to govern the crypto sector. During the recently held Crypto Summit at the White House, President Trump directed the Task Force to present its proposed laws by the end of August. The UAE has been implementing Web3 regulations for over two years. Key milestones include the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) framework, which regulates crypto trading platforms, and Dubai's Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), that oversees virtual assets in the region. With its advanced regulatory framework, the UAE has become a key advisor for nations like the US seeking guidance on crypto policies. In January, Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim met with UAE officials to discuss the formulation of a supportive crypto policy framework.